Thorybes pylades

Northern Cloudywing
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Thorybes
Species:	T. pylades
Binomial name
Thorybes pylades Scudder (1870)

The Northern Cloudywing is a species of the Hesperiidae family.

Description

The wingspan of the T. pylades is between 32 and 47 mm long. Both male and female have completely dark brown wings except for the small triangular clear spots.

Distribution

It is seen between Nova Scotia west across Canada south into California and across the rest of the United States. Its habitat consist of open boreal woodlands and on forest edges.

Life cycle

Adults lay eggs singly under the leaves of their host plants the caterpillars then will eat till they are ready to pupate at which point they will roll themselves into the host plants leafs. They fly between May and July where there is only one brood, but in the south they fly from March and September where there are two broods.

Larval food

• Fabaceae
• Desmodium
• Lespedeza
• Trifolium
• Hosackia

Nectaring flowers

• Apocynum
• Prunella
• Securigera varia
• Lonicera japonica
• Thistle
• Asclepias syriaca
• Dianthus armeria
• Verbena

References

• "Northern Cloudywing". Butterflies and Moths of North America. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1948. Retrieved 2008-10-11.